Merkel raps farm minister over EU weedkiller vote

BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday rapped her agriculture minister for violating the government line by voting in favour of approving a controversial weedkiller at a key EU meeting, angering allies.
The European Union on Monday renewed the licence for the weedkiller glyphosate for five years after Germany surprisingly voted in favour despite environmental concerns.
Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt, a member of Merkel's conservatives, was however immediately called out by Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, a Social Democrat, who accused him of a breach of trust.
The case threatened to sour relations between Merkel's conservative alliance and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) at a time when the two sides are gearing up for talks on possibly renewing their grand coalition.
Schmidt's vote in favour "did not correspond to the position agreed by the government," said Merkel at a press conference following a meeting with local authorities on phasing out diesel engines.
The German leader added that she spoke to Schmidt today, and stressed that such episodes "must not be repeated", even if only a caretaker government was in charge.
Glyphosate was introduced in 1974 by US agro-giant Monsanto under the brand-name Roundup. A WHO study found it was "probably carcinogenic" but later studies have disagreed.
Berlin had originally planned to abstain in the vote for extending the pesticide's licence.
With the bloc's largest population, Germany's change of heart was instrumental in breaking a long deadlock within the 28-nation union over the fate of the pesticide, which critics fear causes cancer.
Eighteen of the 28 EU states voted in favour of the European Commission's proposal for a five-year renewal, with nine including France voting against, and one abstaining. — AFP